


The Spy and the Tech Guy

by silver_drip



Category: Iron Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Isolophobia, Misunderstandings, Multi, PTSD, Past Torture, Protective Bucky Barnes, Spies & Secret Agents, Technology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-10
Updated: 2015-08-16
Packaged: 2018-04-14 00:58:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4544058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_drip/pseuds/silver_drip
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki’s a spy. Tony does the tech and has quite the history.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's Electric

**Author's Note:**

> *sigh* Stress writing, as usual. 
> 
> This was inspired by the TV show Chuck.

Loki poked at his busted lip with his tongue, despite knowing it would only cause the wound to heal slower. He was leaning on metal railing, overlooking gizmos and gadgets that were produced and repaired for their missions.

He’d never been this low in the base before, but with a promotion came a higher security clearance.

Clint was buzzing around him, having extra energy from just having been promoted too.

“Dude, I haven’t even _seen_ half of this stuff before. I’m in spy-candyland!” Loki was too tired for his shit. It had been a two man operation. Loki had taken the front of the building and Clint the back. Unfortunately, most of the goons were in the front. By the time he got through them Clint had already retrieved the data they were there for.

Loki stared with cool eyes, trying to figure out what each of the items below them did. He was also slightly annoyed that they hadn’t given him access to them before. One of his favorite parts of the espionage business was the tech.

Laser pen? Classic and awesome.

Keylogger virus usb disguised as part of a watch? Brilliant

Lapel pin lock pic? Handy as fuck.

Trackers the size of pills? Good for following thugs back to their bosses.

“Why are you still standing around? Let’s go play!” Clint was quick to take the spiraling stairs downwards. Loki rolled his sore shoulders before following him.

When they reached the ground floor Loki refrained from touching the various objects, knowing how even the most innocuous objects could be quite deadly.

One of the white lab coat covered scientist came over to them.

“May I see your cards?” he asked politely. Clint sighed before handing his blank card over. The scientist placed it on the face of his wristwatch and the card lit up strangely. “Valid, thank you Agent Barton.” He looked over at Loki. The spy hated turning over any form of identification, but he had seen this scientist before and he didn’t appear to be lying. Loki gave him his blank card. He repeated the same process. “Welcome Agent Smith and Agent Barton.” The scientist grinned widely. “I’m Dr. Banner. Most everyone is out at this hour. Are you here for anything specifically?”

“Just looking around,” Clint said nonchalantly, putting his hands in his pockets.

“I’d advise against that. Even though all of the items are disengaged or unarmed they’re still dangerous. Taking any technology out of here is considered treason and carries the death penalty with it.” Dr. Banner smiled easily and Loki decided that he wasn’t annoying. “You do not have clearance to go past the metal door labelled ‘Research and Development’. When you have a mission a list will be sent down to us and we’ll have the items ready for you.” Dr. Banner started turning away.

“Do you take requests?” Clint asked. Banner didn’t turn around as he answered.

“Nope!” Banner opened the metal doors without having even to swipe a card. Loki glanced a much sturdier and imposing door behind it.

“You wanna play with some of these toys?” Clint asked, glancing around him.

“You’re an idiot.”

* * *

Loki’s next mission was solo. He was disappointed when he received standard issued gear.

Then three more missions were completed, once again unaided by the more interesting devices.

He was furious. He went straight to the giant room of gadgets, spotting a scientist who was tossing car keys high into the air and then easily catching them. He was at least ten years older than Loki.

“You,” Loki said, his strides filled with purpose. The scientist caught the keys again before looking at Loki. “Why have I not been issued better tech?”

“What’s your name?” he asked, completely unfazed.

“Loki Smith, level six,” he growled out.

“Hmm,” The scientist put the keys in his pocket before performing a weird hand motion. The whole room was suddenly lit up and Loki reached for his gun automatically, despite not having it on him. When his eyes refocused the scientist wasn’t looking at him, instead moving around a hologram. Loki saw himself along with the names of his most recent missions, skillsets, and favored weapons.

The dark haired scientist started rolling through Loki’s skillsets.

“Well?” Loki asked after a three minute silence.

“Hammer is an idiot,” he mumbled and the holograms disappeared as soon as it appeared. “I sent an email to Director Romanov. Your mission statements will be sent to me and I’ll assign your equipment from now on.” The scientist pulled out his keys, twisting it around his finger before walking off.

Loki felt like the air had been knocked out of him, not used to someone acting so casually when he was on the warpath.

He huffed before leaving.

* * *

He went back to the large tech room swirling with anger, already having his mission memorized. The list of gear he needed hadn’t been made.

Only Dr. Banner was there.

“Banner, where is the scientist with the brown hair and goatee. He said he’d be in charge of arranging my strategic weapons and the list is missing.” Banner sighed.

“Jarvis, where is Tony?” Banner asked, pushing aside a simple looking cup.

“He is in lab six,” someone said through an intercom.

“Can you tell him that Agent Smith is here to pick up his gear?” Dr. Banner sounded completely exasperated.

“Brucie, darling,” Tony said over the intercom. “Give him package 26. Packed it this morning. I’m adding in a new toy. Dum-E is already on his way to deliver it.” There was a weird buzzing noise.

“What new toy is that?”

“Put a sticky-note on Dum-E. Anything else? Kinda making groundbreaking stuff.”

“Just make sure it isn’t a piece of crap. I don’t need something backfiring on me at a vital moment,” Loki said.

There was a snort in response before a clicking. A moment later a large robot on wheels appeared, a simple watch in its claw. Banner walked up to it, taking the watch and sticky-note before patting it on its claw. The robot let out a beep before turning around and wheeling away.

“Hmm,” Banner let out while reading the sticky-note. “Easy stuff. Left hand use only. Deploys a gauntlet that can shoot three blasts of energy. The gauntlet is thin enough that if you’re handcuffed it can still deploy under it. Activated by pulling out the crown which can be used as a tranquilizer.” Banner flipped over the note. “Lose this and Tony says he’ll personally kill you himself.”

Loki scoffed before taking the watch and his bag of gear.

* * *

The watch, annoyingly enough, ended up saving his ribs from being broken… again.

He was surprised by how little it recoiled, which he hadn’t expecting. It also didn’t push him back as far as he’d expected, causing a stomp to his leg to only miss by inches.

After the third shot the strange gauntlet retracted automatically.

Loki was disappointed that he didn’t get to use the tranq.

Over all, the mission was a success.

* * *

Clint was pining after Director Romanov on the helicopter after Loki’s extraction. Loki thumbed the crown of the watch, wanting to knock him out.

“Run into any problems?” Clint asked, finally changing the subject.

“Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

“We’re almost at the landing sight, ladies and gentlemen,” Agent Wilson said through their comlinks. “We have seven boys waiting down there to take Mr. Javon into custody. Agent Barton is dismissed and Agent Smith is to report to R&D before giving his report to the director.”

“Haha, sucka! I get to go home.” Clint elbowed him in the ribs and Loki let out a hiss of pain.

“Well at least I get to see the director. Did I mention that we have a certain chemistry?”

“You just have to hit me where it hurts, don’t you?” Clint complained.

Loki hid his grin, not mentioning that his chemistry with Director Romanov was purely that of mutual respect.

* * *

After getting his most recently acquired injuries checked out he went down to the tech level. Loki was checking through his equipment in the elevator when it opened up. He was unclipping his watch, being very careful with it.

“I can take that off your hands,” a scientist he didn’t recognize said. He’d been waiting for Loki at the elevator.

“I think not.” Loki brushed by him.

“Mr. Hammer, as you are aware, you do not have the proper security clearance to examine that piece of equipment,” Jarvis said from over the intercom. “Dr. Stark will be out momentarily.” Mr. Hammer let out an annoyed sigh before walking to a small office that Loki had only briefly taken note of that when he first came down here.

Loki took the stairs down to the main floor slowly, his eyes sweeping the area as he always did.

Music started playing faintly in the distance, slowly growing louder before abruptly cutting off. The double doors that led to the R&D department swung open and Dr. Stark walked out. He was wearing a lab coat. He automatically scanned him for weapons.

His lab coat had burnt spots all over it along with stains. He had strange goggles shoved up his forehead haphazardly.

“Agent Smith, you passed the test.”

“Test?” Loki asked, unimpressed.

“Hammer is an asshole who is so terrible at inventing that he’s been put into management and doesn’t have access to anything above level five technology. Had you let him see my newest invention you would have been stuck with only the floor models.” Stark gestured around him. “Here, let me see it.”

Loki handed it over and Dr. Stark activated it before asking a few questions about how it handled and if it was even worth mass producing. Loki answered honestly, almost enjoying the small grin on the engineer’s face as he looked at his creation.

“Stop lurking,” Dr. Stark said while collapsing the gauntlet back into its wristwatch form. Loki glanced around and was surprised to find a dark character appear from behind one of the shelves. Loki was immediately annoyed with himself for not having realized that there was someone else around. Even the lab-rat had noticed and Loki was the spy, the one who was supposed to always be on alert.

After containing his anger Loki looked at the other man, identifying him by his metal arm. Agent Barnes, one of the top spies they had.

“I’m done for the day. You ready yet?” Barnes’ voice was deeper than Loki expected.

“One sec. I need to put this away.” Dr. Stark turned a nearly blinding smile on Agent Barnes before glancing back at Loki. “Thank you for you input, Agent Smith. You’re dismissed.”

Dr. Stark and Agent Barnes turned away from him and started walking towards the R&D doors. Loki stared at them a moment. Dr. Stark shoved Agent Barnes on the shoulder, who only laughed in return.

Loki filed that information away before leaving.

* * *

His debriefing had been annoying, but expected.

Once Loki was finally back at his little apartment and inspected it for intruders he began taking off layers of his personal weapons. Just three knives and a handgun.

His mind wandered back to his brief encounter with Agent Barnes. He’d never seen him before in person. He was never in the sparring rooms or on the gun range. Unlike many of the other veteran spies he didn’t drop in on the new recruits to give them a few tips.

Actually, he was a bit of a myth in their agency. Most of the spies knew he existed simply because of the clips they showed of him doing particularly complex maneuvers, but he was so rarely encountered on base that it was easy to think he’d just retired.

He seemed to have an easy relationship with Dr. Stark.

Loki was still pissed at himself for not having noticed the other spy.

Perhaps Dr. Stark just had some sort of gizmo that alerted him to when others were around.

Loki put the whole interaction out of his mind, focusing on icing his sore limbs before making a midnight meal and heading to bed.

* * *

The agency was in a tizzy when he arrived the following morning. The coffee hadn’t set in enough for him to put up with their tittering and whispers.

Loki finally worked up the energy to go see what they were all looking at.

Clint was bound to the large water fountain that was in the center of the lobby. He was waist deep in the water. There was a strange contraption around his arms that Loki didn’t make understand at first.

Their eyes met and Clint shouted his name through the gag he was wearing.

Loki stepped forward to release him.

“No,” Director Romanov said. Loki turned towards her, once again scolding himself for not having noticed someone in his proximity. Her eyes were steadily on Clint as she took a sip of her coffee. “He’s your partner, so I’ll allow you to release him at noon. If you or anyone else touches him before that, they’ll get the same treatment.” Despite her voice being quiet and even, almost everyone heard her and ran off to actually do their jobs.

“Yes, ma’am.” He gave Clint a half apologetic half teasing look before heading to the gun range.

* * *

 Just before noon Loki arrived at the fountain. There was a small bag on the ledge. It had a sticky-note on it with his name in messy scrawl

He opened the bag and found a few tools.

Clint made a muffled whining noise. Loki waved him off, unfolding a schematic for the device. Apparently the lower Clint let his arms droop the more intense shock he’d receive.

At the bottom of the bag was what looked like a key fob with only two buttons: On and Off. Loki pointed it at Clint before pushing the off button.

Clint let out a moan as he lowered his arms.

Loki left without warning and Clint started shouting at him. Loki grinned, finding the maintenance room and setting the fountain to drain. He wasn’t about to get his clothes wet just for that idiot.

Clint’s head was rolled forward when Loki reappeared.

“You’re quite the sight,” Loki said. Clint cursed at him as best he could. “Patience is a good skill to have, Agent Barton.”

Loki decided to take pity on him and began taking off the gag from around his mouth. It actually had to be unscrewed.

“Thank fuck.” Clint kept opening and closing his mouth, trying to work the soreness out of it. Clint’s arms were spasming as Loki undid the device around them. “I haven’t felt that close to death since our mission in Prague.” Clint leaned back, closing his eyes. “And Natasha saw me, double fuck. She’ll never take me seriously now.” Once his arms were completely free they began shaking even more.

“What happened?” Loki asked, undoing the final restraint that had kept Clint attached to the fountain.

“Funny story, except it’s not. I got jealous of that new gauntlet you told me about yesterday. Decided to find one of my own this morning. Got through R&D’s security like it was nothing. There was only two white coats in there. One was sleeping on a cot. Without even looking away from what he was working on the other shot me with some weird tranquilizer. He told me not to break into his lab again. I woke up in the fountain with my arms tied above me. When I opened my eyes whatever was keeping them up came undone and my arms dropped automatically, shooting electricity straight through me.” Loki helped him stand up, no longer caring about getting his clothing wet. “I just want some food, dry clothes, and sleep.”

“So just like after Prague?” Loki joked.

“Just like Prague.”

* * *

After attending to his idiotic partner Loki was on the war path. He’d pulled up footage from earlier in the morning, identifying the perpetrator as Dr. Stark.

Instead of taking the elevator and risking his anger simmering down he took the stairs, enjoying the sharp noise his feet made. He swiped his card before glancing around. Dr. Stark and Dr. Banner were in a corner of the giant tech room eating their lunches.

Neither of them bothered to stand when the threat in Loki’s eyes became clear to them. Dr. Stark merely raised an eyebrow and Dr. Banner screwed the lid back on his bottle of water.

“Agent Smith,” Dr. Stark greeted, his voice emotionless. Loki snarled before lifting him by the collar of his shirt, using his height to make sure Dr. Stark could barely touch the ground. Dr. Stark looked unfazed.

“You put my partner in the fountain.” It was a statement, but Dr. Stark still answered it.

“Yeah, that’s what happens when people enter my lab without authorization. He’s just lucky he had clearance to be on this floor otherwise the punishment would have been much worse.”

“Tony,” Dr. Banner said in an exasperated tone that Loki could barely hear over his blood pounding in his ears.

“You think it’s funny to torture agents?” Loki hissed at him. Dr. Stark scowled and all of a sudden everything was a blur before he was slammed into the concrete floor, his arms pinned against his back. The air was pushed out of him and he tried to get his bearings.

“No, it’s not funny to torture anyone.” He felt Dr. Stark’s breath fan against his ear and didn’t like it. “I looked up Agent Barton’s file and knew he could handle that much pain easily. Besides,” Dr. Stark paused, “the safety was on. Had his arms given out the shocks would have stopped and I would have been alerted so I could get him out myself. The fact that he held out that long has been entered into his file as a commendation, clearing him for higher level missions.” The pressure on his back was lifted and Loki quickly scrambled up. Dr. Stark was back to sitting at the small table, taking the top off a bowl of cut fruit. “Don’t ever try to intimidate or threaten me again. You wouldn’t be the first agent I put down. If you have a problem with me go talk to the director.”

* * *

Loki knew he’d get nowhere if he went to talk to Director Romanov. She had clearly been fine with Clint being trapped in that fountain.

Instead he went to Hank Pym, one of the cyber analyzers who owed him a favor.

“I need to know everything about Dr. Tony Stark,” Loki said while setting down a cup of coffee for Hank.

“Works in R&D, right?” Hank asked. Loki sighed.

“I believe so, but I came here specifically so _you_ could tell me the answers.”

“Right, yeah. That makes sense.” Hank started clacking away at his keyboard at the speed of light. Loki stared at his little ant farm, trying to keep his irritation in check. “Well, I have a bit of bad news.” Loki scowled. “Off the bat all I can tell you is that he has level nine clearance and runs an unknown company as his day job. There’s 236 pages on him and it looks like most of them have been redacted to the point where you probably couldn’t get a whole page of information out of them.” Hank gave him an apologetic look. Loki stifled his annoyance, knowing it wasn’t his fault.

“Print them all out for me. I’ll be back in an hour and a half.”

* * *

After checking in on Clint Loki found himself ambushed, tied to a chair with a bag over his head.

Today was definitely not his day.

A bucket of cold water was poured over his head, and he tried not to panic as the cloth clung to his face, making it hard to breath. The bag was removed and Loki quickly took in his surroundings: Agent Barnes, unarmed, handicap bathroom stall, metal toilet paper dispenser and hook on the door could be used as weapons, they were still in the building.

“Why were you looking up Tony Stark?” Agent Barnes asked. Loki sneered, but didn’t hold back. He had nothing to hide.

“That bastard tied my partner up and tortured him.” Loki practically spit out the words.

“Agent Barton broke into an area he wasn’t authorized to be in. Director Romanov wanted him executed. The only reason he’s still alive is because of Tony. If you lay a hand on him again I’ll kill you.”

Agent Barnes left without another word.

Loki sighed while looking up at the ceiling.

“Today is definitely not my day.”

* * *

It took a half an hour for anyone to stumble upon him. He was cut loose and went to one of the work out rooms to take out some of his frustrations. Agent Kate Bishop was there. She was more Clint’s friend than his own, but they worked out together. Her humor reminded him a bit of Clint’s which made him both a bit sad and relieved.

After thoroughly exhausting himself he checked his emails. He didn’t have another mission for three days which meant three days of absolute boredom. Then he scrolled further down and groaned. His brother Thor was coming to visit with some unknown person. The idiot never gave him proper warning.

Loki had missed a text from Clint telling him he was heading home and was taking tomorrow off.

In the shower just off the gym he contemplated what to do next. He was still pissed at Dr. Stark for hurting his partner, but he also knew Agent Barnes was on a whole other level when it came to combat training.

He decided that his first line of action would be to confirm if what Barnes said was even the truth, which meant emailing Director Romanov, the scariest person in the espionage business.

On top of all that he’d have to stock up his fridge with more than just yogurt and Gatorade. Thor could eat him out of house and home. He’d also have to do a better job at hiding his weapons since that idiot was snoopy since Loki didn’t ‘talk to him’, whatever that means.

While sitting in a towel in the locker room and cooling off he sent a quick email to the director. It usually took her an hour or two to respond so he wasn’t worried.

In the mirror he noticed that his bruises were healing up nicely. He’d have to be careful on his next mission to not get injured anywhere obvious and risk Thor questioning him.

After getting dressed and putting on fresh clothes he headed to the parking garage. He stopped short when he spotted Barnes and Stark walking together in the nearly empty garage. Barnes laughed at something Stark said, but Loki couldn’t make out their conversation from this far away. They disappeared to a lower level and Loki waited a minute before heading to his own car.

He checked it for explosives, feeling extra paranoid. Nothing seemed amiss.

* * *

Thor showed up the next day with a pretty blonde named Jane. He announced they were engaged and Loki immediately sent for a background check after excusing himself to go to the bathroom.

Thor was as loud as usual and in Loki’s small apartment it only made him seem more obnoxious.

Loki was halfway through cooking lunch when the report came in. She was a medical doctor, graduated from John Hopkins, and mostly worked in the ER. There were no red flags.

Loki smoothly lied to them about his job at an architecture firm. The agency had made him take a few classes to make his cover seem more plausible.

Despite his company his mind kept circling back to Stark and Barnes. Loki had already sent a text checking up on Clint. He’d sent back a picture of himself with pizza, beer, and his dog Lucky.

Director Romanov hadn’t sent him an email back, which was just making him antsy.

“You’ve been staring at your phone all day,” Thor complained.

“I’m waiting for an important email from the boss.”

“Oh, will there be an emergency? Will a cup of coffee spill over one of your pretty designs?” Thor teased.

“I’m sorry, what is your job again? Oh, that’s right. You just blab your big mouth on the TV about sports no one cares about.” Loki artfully dodged the pillow that was thrown at him and brought out the sandwiches for their lunch.

* * *

Spending three days off was hellish, especially with Thor lingering about. He’d made the excuse that he’d asked for time off to spend with him, though he didn’t say that he only did so to put off any other impromptu visits from him.

Loki did take out some of his frustration by running in the early morning and just before sunset. Thor said he was obsessed with his health. Loki said Thor was getting fat. Jane just laughed at the pair of them.

Director Romanov finally responded to his email, confirming that Clint would have been killed if not for Stark’s actions. Loki forwarded the email to Clint, despite doing so was against regulation.

Loki found that Jane wasn’t so bad and actually kept Thor from being a complete idiot. They hadn’t set a date for the wedding.

When Loki finally got around to asking Thor what their parents thought of this he frowned.

“I was hoping you could come with us when I told them the good news,” Thor said softly.

“Why? So they will be distracted by my ‘failings’ that they won’t have time to rip apart Jane?” Thor shrugged, neither confirming nor denying Loki’s question. Loki rolled his eyes and went for another run.

* * *

Loki ushered them off with warm wishes on the day he was supposed to head back to the agency.

Some of his anger had drifted away once Romanov confirmed that Stark had saved Clint’s life, but his curiosity wasn’t appeased.

The way Stark had taken him down was not in lab-rats’ usual bag of tricks. Agent Barnes seemed overly protective and the day when Loki went to confront Stark it looked like Banner knew some sort of violence was going to happen.

Stark was a mystery, and mysteries in his line of business were usually a bad thing.

His plane ride was set to take off at noon so he had very little time to do any investigating.

He found Banner and Stark at the small table he’d saw them at last. Stark hopped up immediately, all smiles.

“I have a new toy for you.” Stark was grinning as he rummaged through one of the deep pockets of his lab coat.

“Why do I feel like a guinea pig?” Loki asked dryly.

“Well, I do extensive testing in my labs beforehand, but there’s nothing like an actual field test.” Stark pulled out a pair of glasses.

“And what if your tests prove to be inadequate and I end up in a situation because of them?”

“Agent Smith, I chose you specifically because your problem solving and improvisation test results are in the top tier. I wouldn’t just give my finely honed inventions to an average agent. I’ve read all your mission reports. You’re going to be up there with the greats, and if my inventions can help move you faster to that point then I’m more than willing to help.”

Loki was speechless. He wasn’t used to praise in any form. Against his will he ducked his head and blushed.

“Thank you, Dr. Stark. I’d love to be the one to field test your inventions.” He was once again surprised when Stark put an arm around his shoulders.

“Please just call me Tony. All my friends do, after all.”


	2. Company Picnic and Pies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a month since my birthday and in a week and a half I'll be heading back to Uni :( *Crumbles a little on the inside*

* * *

 

Being a ‘field tester’ got Loki a pay raise and upped his security clearance. Clint bitched and moaned, but since his fountain debacle Director Romanov had been sending him on ‘special missions’ and Clint was convinced that they were eventually going to get married and have little babies together. It served as good entertainment for Loki.

Usually after a mission Loki would meet up with Tony and Bruce to discuss how the most recent item they’d given him to test had worked out.

It was… almost fun.

When the pair of scientist began ranting Loki quickly lost track of what they were talking about, but something about their passion on whatever subject they were discussing made Loki smile, especially when one (usually Bruce) walked out of the room, completely exasperated.

Tony was… intelligent, good looking, and had a great sense of humor. Loki wanted to know more about him, but every so often Agent Barnes would step in.

Barnes was like a dark cloud in a blue sky. When things were good he hinted at the bad.

It’s not that he did anything specifically negative. If anything he brought pizza and beer for lunch.

It was more of how he made Loki feel. He could often times feel Barnes’ eyes on him, accessing him, looking for weaknesses and any hints of underhanded activities.

Tony seemed to enjoy his company well enough, despite Barnes being near silent. When he had lunch with them Tony did most of the talking. Bruce seemed fine with it.

It made Loki a bit jealous. Despite their rough start Loki could feel the start of a crush forming towards Tony.

On occasions Clint would join them. He was no longer mad at Tony for the fountain incident. Mostly he just tried to interrogate Tony about Romanov since they had apparently joined the agency around the same time.

Every once and a while Tony would drop him the faintest of hints about the enigma that was Natasha Romanov. Loki couldn’t tell if he was just making it all up to screw with Clint. Either way, Loki had a good time.

* * *

Three months passed and Loki didn’t know how to deal with his feelings for Tony. He never showed any outwards signs of being interested in men and personal lives were never brought up in the agency.

He was tempted to ask Bruce what he knew, but was aware of Jarvis’ constant monitoring. Anything he said could easily get back to Tony.

“Are you pumped?!” Clint asked loudly, grabbing onto the punching bag Loki was taking to town.

“Do you really think you can win against me?” Loki said with a sly grin while he continued hitting the punching bag, not breaking stride.

“Dude, we might not even have to fight. They’re not releasing the tournament bracket until six. Apparently this year’s winner is going to get a Ferrari. Do you understand how great I’d look in a Ferrari? Especially a purple one?”

“If I win I’ll sell it and buy a less ostentatious car,” Loki said, only to annoy Clint.

“You’re no fun. I wish we’d been there for the last ‘Company Picnic’. Apparently some guy got his ribs kicked in so hard one of them punctured his lung.”

“And that’s probably the reason it’s held only once every five years. Besides, we were only cadets. If they’d let us enter we probably wouldn’t have even made it past the first round.” Loki let up on his punching and began unwrapping his hands.

“There’s a rumor that Agent Barnes won’t be able to use his left arm since it’s considered a weapon. He won at the last picnic, but that was when he had both his arms.” Clint was still grinning in a manner that almost looked painful. “Do you think Natasha is going to take part?”

“You mean _Director_ Romanov?”

“Yeah, last time she came in third, or at least that’s what some of the older agents told me. They could just be screwing with me. I can’t see her fighting with the rabble.”

“Rabble like you?” Clint took a swing at him, but Loki stepped out of his range while grinning.

“Only thirty-two people entered their names in. I can’t wait to strut my stuff.”

* * *

Loki was eating a rotisserie chicken along with a can of green beans in his apartment when he checked his phone to see the brackets. He immediately died of laughter when he saw that Clint’s first opponent was Director Romanov.

* * *

Loki’s fight wasn’t till late in the day, but Clint’s was the very first one.

“This will be the only time you ever get to touch her,” Loki whispered in Clint’s ear. “That is, if you can even touch her.” Clint took a swipe at him and Loki laughed while hopping backwards.

“Hey, just remember that when we’re on a life or death mission I’ll remember that comment!” Clint said before trouncing into the large arena. It was a large matted area surrounded by temporary stadium seats. Loki found a spot next to Kate. She was rallying for Clint. Loki made a bet with her for fifty bucks that he’d lose.

Romanov was wearing tighter clothing than usual. She did a quick backflip and the crowd started cheering. Clint just stretched his arms before riling up the crowd a bit more.

An agent Loki didn’t recognize was acting at the referee.

The fight started and Romanov was wearing a grin that even gave Loki the chills.

Clint was the first one to make a move, charging at her swiftly. Romanov took to the air like a ballerina in a flash of movements. She somehow got her legs around his neck and torso. They spun through the air and there was a loud cracking noise as Clint hit the mat… hard. Romanov was standing, but wasn’t finished with him. She planted her knee on his back before grabbing his arm and dislocating his shoulder.

The crowd was practically screaming their heads off.

Romanov whispered something into Clint’s ear and he tapped out.

Loki held his hand open and Kate gave him fifty dollars.

* * *

“Dude, you just missed it!” Clint shouted with his arm in a sling as Loki walked back into the stadium, carrying two paper bags of food.

“That’s nice,” Loki said in a bored tone while walking by him.

“No, you don’t understand. You know your man crush Stark?” In a quick movement Loki had Clint pushed against the side of the metal bleachers.

“How do you know about that?” Loki hissed, being kind and not putting any pressure on Clint’s injured shoulder.

“Uh? Because I’m a spy. Duh.” Clint wormed his way out of Loki’s loose hold. “You wanna hear what I have to say or not?” Clint was pouting and Loki gave him one of the bags of food as an apology. He instantly perked up. “I didn’t notice, but Stark is on the roster. He just took down some agent in like five seconds flat. Seriously, the crowd didn’t even have time to get pumped up before Agent Klaus was already knocked out. I didn’t know your dork could fight!”

“He’s not a dork, nor is he mine,” Loki grumbled.

“Yeah, it’s hard to compete with that Agent Barnes. Do you think his fingers vibrate? I feel like Stark could modify his arm to do that in the bedroom.”

“Barton, do you want to act as my warm-up spar?” Loki threatened, his grip on his bag tightening.

He made his way back to his seat next to Kate, scanning the area. Sure enough he found Tony, Bruce, and Barnes all sitting together far to his left. Now that Tony wasn’t wearing his usual lab coat Loki could see even from this distance that Tony was surprisingly built.

Loki suddenly felt a bit of nervousness. He should have known Tony would be here.

Why was he stressing about this? This wasn’t life or death like his usual missions.

Loki ate his late lunch and focused back on the fight in front of him, trying to get into the right mindset.

By the time it was Loki’s turn to fight he had gotten Tony and his very good looking arms out of his head.

He didn’t recognize his opponent, not that it mattered. Loki observed her stance. Just from that he could tell which one of the instructors she’d trained under.

It really wasn’t a fair fight. She tapped out in under a minute.

* * *

The second of the five days of the ‘Company Picnic’ ushered in the winners of yesterday’s competition. Loki examined the brackets carefully. He’d have to face Tony if they both made it to the fourth bracket.

On the upper half of the bracket it looked like it was going to wind down to Director Romanov and Agent Barnes.

Loki watched closely when it was Tony’s turn to fight. He was… deadly. He didn’t fight like any of the other agents. The only hint of his style that Loki could identify were a few moves he’d seen Barnes do in an earlier match.

Loki also noticed that he had all sorts of scars that his usual attire kept hidden. Scars that made it hard for Loki to breathe. They looked… purposeful, like there was malicious intent behind them. It unsettled Loki.

Clint was whining about the injustice of having to fight Director Romanov in the first round.

“Her thighs were around your head. Stop complaining.” Loki gave him a side glance, used to his antics.

“Are you hoping to fight Stark just so you can have his thighs around your head?” Clint asked in a teasing voice.

“Maybe I want my thighs around his head,” Loki said and Clint let out a loud snort.

“I knew you liked him.” Clint playfully shoved Loki who shoved him back with much more force.

When it was Loki’s turn his fight took longer than he’d like and he also took a heavy blow to his right side. He won. That’s all that mattered.

* * *

On the third day there was even more spectators. It didn’t unnerve Loki.

Once again, Director Romanov was the first one to take to the mat. She dispatched her opponent like it was a form of art. She was a work of art and Loki completely understood why Clint was enraptured by her. If he was straight and not afraid of her, he would be too.

She did a kick that sent her opponent flying into the bleachers, knocking him out. Loki blinked, trying to analyze the movement so that he could learn it.

* * *

When it was almost Tony’s turn Loki glanced over at where he’d been sitting. Both Tony and Barnes were gone, but Bruce was still there. Loki abandoned Clint to go sit with him.

“I didn’t know Tony could fight,” Loki said conversationally to Bruce over the racket of the crowd.

“Even though he got you in a hold that time you threatened him?” Bruce asked with a teasing smile.

“I’d forgotten about that. I tend to block at memories of being angry.” Looking back on it Loki still wasn’t sure what move Tony had used on him. Bruce chuckled.

“Tony is a genius at almost everything he does.” Bruce turned his attention towards the center of the room.

Loki spotted Barnes from across the room, staring at him with those cold eyes. Loki focused on Tony he was dancing to the music that was playing over the intercom. Loki couldn’t hold in his grin, especially when the crowd started cheering for Tony.

On the opposite side of the mat Tony’s opponent was stretching. Loki couldn’t see his face, but from his posture Loki guessed that he wasn’t amused.

Tony came onto the mat still dancing. The crowd grew even louder and Loki cheered along with them. The energy was buzzing through the large room.

Agent Leif, Tony’s opponent, slinked into the arena. He took up his stance and kept his eyes focused on Tony.

The referee signaled the fight to start. Tony was still dancing, taunting Leif.

Leif moved in slowly, his shoulders starting to bob slightly with the beat. Tony moved backwards, luring Leif in more.

Tony suddenly went off beat, closing the space between them in almost an instant. Leif threw a punch which Tony dodged while sending out his own strike that hit Leif in the gut. Tony twisted around and sent his elbow flying down heavily on the juncture of Leif’s shoulder and neck.

Leif stumbled forward, but didn’t fall.

Tony roundhouse kicked him straight on his temple.

Leif crumbled to the ground.

* * *

Loki was facing off against Agent Coulson, one of his old teachers.

Coulson had at least twenty years on him and Loki had seen him fight multiple times in exhibition spars.

He was also a bit put off because Tony and Barnes were not in the stands. Clint and Kate were cheering for him and Loki knew bets were being made all around the stadium. Apparently Coulson had finished in third last ‘Company Picnic’, tying with Romanov.

If Loki was going to win this competition he’d have to get through Coulson, Tony, and most likely either Romanov or Barnes.

As they both got on the mat Coulson looked too relaxed. He probably knew more of Loki’s weaknesses than Loki did. He had to stay focused though.

The fight lasted less than ten seconds.

As Loki faded from consciousness he was thankful that Tony hadn’t been there to see him fail.

* * *

On day four Loki’s right eye was still swollen shut from his loss yesterday. The whole agency was awash with energy since the first fight of the day was going to be Romanov versus Barnes.

He was surprised when Tony joined him on the stands instead of sitting with Bruce as he usually did.

“I’ve been waiting for this fight since day one,” Tony said while smiling at Loki.

“How did you even know they were going to fight?” Loki asked, glad that Tony had sat on his left side, keeping his swollen eye out of view.

“I know how they fight and I have access to everyone’s files. I knew they had no real competition. And before you ask, no I didn’t look up my opponents before I fought them. I have seen Coulson fight more than a few times. We go way back.” Loki had never seen Tony smile so much and he was surprised by the tendril of jealousy that worked its way into his chest.

“Who do you think is going to win?” Loki asked, trying to change the subject.

“Oh, I know who’s going to win. Even with Bucky’s arm in that cushioned sleeve and his arm downgraded he’ll knock out Natasha. It’s going to be a long and bloody fight though. Neither of them is going to tap out. It will work in my favor when I face Bucky tomorrow.”

“You seem certain that you’ll beat Coulson,” Loki commented as the crowd grew louder. Tony gave him a cocky grin before turning towards the center of the mats as Romanov and Barnes walked in.

* * *

It was gruesome.

A downright bloodfest.

Barnes won.

It took over an hour and the mats had to be hosed down afterwards.

Director Romanov looked like she’d been beaten by a meat cleaver and Barnes looked just as bad.

The next fight was delayed an hour just because it took so long for everything to be set back up.

There was a rumor that both Tony and Coulson were in the infirmary, talking to Barnes and Romanov.

After lunch with Clint and Kate the stadium started filling back up with different employees. Loki really did love the ‘Company Picnic’. The food was free along with the booze. He knew that more than one of the agents that had lost in the competition were completely shitfaced. Agent Leif from yesterday was sprawled over one of the metal bleachers, a bottle of beer in his hand. A different agent was cradling his head and joking with him.

Cheering started up as Coulson and Tony walked in. When they were in the middle of the arena they exchanged a firm handshake. The backed away from each other and the referee signaled for them to begin.

There was no dancing like Tony’s previous match. Instead he was perfectly still. Coulson was the same. That lasted a minute before the crowd started booing.

Loki was on the edge of his seat. On one hand he wanted Tony to win. On the other he wanted him to lose so he wouldn’t risk getting worked over like Romanov had been.

Five more minutes passed and the crowd was practically calling for blood, especially after the earlier display. Without a blow even being exchanged Coulson tapped out.

It was the strangest fight Loki had ever seen before.

* * *

The ‘Company Picnic’ was delayed a day so that Barnes could heal up a bit more before his next fight.

Bets in the thousands were being laid down on who would win, how long the match would last, and who would land the most hits.

Loki couldn’t help but place a fifty dollar bet that Tony was going to win.

When he told Tony he simply slung his arm over Loki’s shoulder before pulling him into a half hug. Loki blushed like a fool and was thankfully saved by Kate pulling him away to get fresh drinks.

When the next day rolled around Barnes looked much better, but it was obvious where he was the most injured and vulnerable.

Bruce sat with Loki, Clint, and Kate when the tournament was gearing up.

“Who did you bet on?” Loki asked Bruce.

“I don’t consider it betting when I already know the outcome,” Bruce said simply not taking his eyes away from Tony and Barnes who were chatting on the other side of the room as if they weren’t about to fight each other.

“And how do you know the outcome?”

“I used to supply their tech when they were both field agents.”

“Tony was a field agent?” It really shouldn’t have come as a surprise to him.

“Yeah, they were partners.”

Before Loki could ask any more questions the crowd suddenly erupted into cheers and hoots as Tony and Barnes walked onto the mat. Tony pulled off his tank top and various agents wolf whistled at him. Loki felt his chest clench. Tony had so many scars, bullet wounds, burn marks, healed slashes…

It took him a moment to notice that Barnes did the same. He had far less scars and most of them were around where his prosthetic met his shoulder.

They were both barefoot and shook hands before backing away. Tony gave a half smile and said something that Loki couldn’t make out above the noise of the spectators. Barnes laughed genuinely in return.

Loki watched as Tony’s chest rose and fell, taking in deeper breathes than usual.

They both moved at once.

It was… a strange fight. Tony was avoiding Barnes most obvious wounds and Barnes was avoiding hitting Tony in random places. It was almost like they were just having a friendly spar instead of fighting in a competition.

Every once and a while one of them would say something and the other would laugh while dodging an attack.

They were both grinning before Tony said something with a frown. The pair jumped away from each other simultaneously. Barnes rotated his left shoulder before cracking his jaw. Tony had a hand on his chest and was breathing deeply, but his breathes didn’t look labored. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before nodding. They met in the center again, their movements becoming faster.

The look on both their faces changed, no more humor, completely concentrated.

It occurred to Loki that the first half of their fight might have just been a warm up.

There was no holding back now. All the areas they had avoiding hitting before were fair game.

Loki’s eyes could hardly keep up with them. It was like a highly choreographed dance. Each one knew the other’s tells and movements. Each counter attack was countered in kind. It was an uninterrupted chain of attacks. They did not dodge, merely redirected their opponents attack. It was like they were in a bubble in which there was nothing else in the world.

Loki was hypnotized and the only noise in the large room was the pairs’ grunts and flesh hitting flesh.

And then Barnes landed an open palm to the center of Tony’s chest.

Tony’s whole body went rigid before he took a step back. He cupped his head before conceding the match and quickly walking off the mat and through the throng of people. Barnes was only steps behind him and Bruce was out of his seat, making his way towards them.

* * *

Loki wasn’t allowed in the infirmary. He found this both infuriating and understandable. After lingering around for a bit he finally decided to go home.

When he got home he received a phone call from his mother. She was asking all about his cover job as an architect. He rambled on about structural engineering. He could tell what she was trying to do, worming more information about his personal life out. He hated to admit that he didn’t really have a personal life.

His thoughts did linger on Tony and he admit that he was interested in someone, if only to appease her.

He’d made a mistake. She was all questions after that.

“I don’t even know if he’s interested in men,” Loki finally said, trying to keep his voice under control.

“Well, how will you ever know if you don’t ask him out?”

“When has it ever been that simple, mother?”

“Your father just asked me out,” she said nonchalantly.

“Yes, but you both were obviously straight. Also, he always has this other guy around him. They’re old friends—”

“Then they’re not dating! What’s the problem?”

“He’s very intimidating and could easily break me in half.”

“Loki, I never knew you were one to let someone intimidate you into not getting what you want.” She was teasing him, but it did make him feel a bit idiotic. Agent Barnes really shouldn’t be a factor in this whole matter. Even if he and Tony were friends it was ultimately none of his business.

“Give father my regards. I love you,” he said, hastening the end of their conversation.

“Good luck with your new romance! Love you, darling!”

Loki pulled out a frozen dinner and decided it was time to finally figure out Tony’s sexual orientation. After shoving the block of frozen food in the microwave he opened up his laptop, doing a good old fashioned google search on Tony Stark.

He felt like a complete idiot when tons of articles popped up right away. His mission history was completely redacted, but the internet was chalk full of information about him.

Tony Stark: previous CEO of Carbonell Industries, now headed by Virginia Potts. He was head of R&D for the company that mostly focused on clean energy.

Loki held his breath as he clicked on a webpage that was dedicated to Tony’s past relationships. The air came rushing out of his lungs when he saw that Tony dated both females and males.

* * *

“Agent Barnes won a Ferrari,” Clint complained as they sat out in the cold, staking out an old building, trying to find a go between for two terrorist cells that had fundamentally different ideas. If the two cells found a common cause things could get messy. That’s what Loki and Clint were trying to prevent.

“He also got a week’s paid vacation,” Loki added on and Clint groaned. “I never asked, what did Director Romanov whisper to you when she had you pinned on the mat?” Loki glanced over at Clint and even in the dim light he could see that he was blushing like crazy. Clint cleared his throat.

“Natasha said that if I could ever beat her in a spar that she’d take me to bed and not release me for a week.” Loki had to stifle his laughter and Clint flipped him off before they went back to silently observing the area.

* * *

Tony was missing from work for a whole week. When Loki asked about it, Bruce just said that Tony was using up some of his vacation days before they expired.

Bruce was a horrible liar.

Unfortunately, Clint was a great liar.

He was sporting a goofy grin and if Loki wasn’t so enthralled by Tony he’d get to the bottom of what was making Clint so happy.

As things stood, Loki was more worried about Tony.

After pestering Bruce for a while he finally got Tony’s number.

But now that he had his number he didn’t know what to do.

Loki played around in one of the sparring arenas with Clint, Kate, and a few other agents, practicing his multiple take downs. After watching Tony and Barnes fight he knew he still had a long way to go.

Loki left early and went to the grocery store.

One of the things his mother had taught him was that pie made everything better.

He picked up the ingredients for both cherry and apple pie before heading home.

As he got started on the pies he sent a text to Tony telling him that he’d gotten his number from Bruce. He made the excuse that he made too much pie and was wondering if Tony wanted to come over later or if he could go to Tony’s place.

An answer didn’t come immediately and it made Loki’s gut clench, but he just focused on making the pies how his mother taught him to.

Almost half an hour later he received a response with Tony’s address. Loki held back a grin despite knowing no one was watching. He said he’d be over in 45 minutes.

Loki started fretting about as he watched the oven, trying not to pace around the kitchen. He went to the bathroom and took a quick second shower of the day. He made sure he looked immaculate without trying too hard.

He heard the timer beep and rushed to get the pies out, knowing they needed to cool a bit before transportation.

While he waited he cleaned his small apartment, pondering why he’d never gotten a bigger one. His job paid well, but he was hardly here to begin with so he supposed it wasn’t that big of a deal. In retrospect he was glad he was going to Tony’s place considering he didn’t have any food in his fridge other than yogurt and a half eaten sandwich.

Loki secured the pies in his car before heading out, his phone guiding him to Tony’s place.

He had to be buzzed in and he felt his heart stutter when a woman answered the intercom, that is until she said that Mr. Stark was waiting for him. Hopefully she was just an employee.

Loki carefully maneuvered the still warm pies and into the elevator. He wasn’t surprised that Tony lived on the top floor. The elevator opened right into his penthouse.

“Tony?” he called out, not immediately seeing him. He appeared from around the corner, wearing much more casual clothing than what Loki was used to seeing him in.

“The kitchen’s just to your left. I can’t believe you actually made pies…” Loki quickly went to the kitchen, hiding his blush.

“Yes, well, who doesn’t like pie?” Loki set them on the granite counter as Tony walked in.

“Will that be all, Mr. Stark?” a strawberry blonde woman asked while standing just outside of the kitchen.

“That will be all, Ms. Potts.” Loki didn’t let his relief show as he recognized her as being the CEO of Tony’s company, so probably not his lover. “What kind of pies did you make?” Tony asked, excitement clear in his eyes.

“Apple and cherry. Which do you prefer?” Loki began rummaging through Tony’s drawers, feeling like an idiot for having forgotten to bring something to cut the pies with as well as a pie spatula. Tony walked over to him, barely brushing against him as he opened a drawer far to the left, getting out the necessary utensils as well as forks.

“Apple in the morning, cherry in the evening,” Tony answered grinning at him. Loki gave him a questioning look while smiling. “Growing up apple strudels were sometimes served for breakfast at my home. I could only have sodas at dinner and cherry soda was my favorite.” Tony paused, staring at Loki for a moment. “Which is your favorite?”

“My apple pies taste store bought compared to my mother’s so when I’m baking it’s cherry, but when she’s making them it’s apple.” Loki smiled fondly. The scent of apple pie filling his childhood home was always heavenly, even though it happened so rarely.

Loki started cutting the cherry pie, steam swirling up from it.

“What would you like to drink? I have water, milk, orange juice, and beer.”

“Milk will go perfectly with the pie.”

Loki doled at the slices on plates he assumed Tony hadn’t bought for himself. They seemed a bit too intricate compared to his usual utilitarian belongings that Loki had seen at the agency.

They entered the living room, Loki carrying the plates and forks while Tony carried two glasses of milk. He paused, taking in his surroundings. It was… strange.

There were two desks flanking the couch that couldn’t be more different. One was neat and looked like it belonged in an executive’s office. The other as crammed full random objects, including a half assembled sniper’s rifle.

On the coffee table in front of the couch there was a mess of machine parts and tools.

“Sorry about the mess.” Tony pushed the coffee table with his foot, which had small wheels on the legs towards the TV before stepping back. A new coffee table came out of the floor and Loki laughed. “Yeah, I do most of my work in here so this was kind of necessary when I wanted to have a movie night.” Tony placed their glasses on the table. “Don’t mind all the stains on the couch. They’re dry and won’t rub off.”

“Do you usually have movie nights?”

“Not as much as I want to. Pepper, the lady that was here earlier, is usually working, Bucky is always in the field, my friend Rhodey lives on the other side of the country, and Bruce has a girlfriend who monopolizes him.” Tony frowned slightly before taking a bite of his pie. He let out a genuine moan and Loki smiled.

“Bruce has a girlfriend?” He’d never mentioned her during their lunches.

“Betty, she’s a good soul, but prefers going on walks instead of the American thing to do, watch movies and talk loudly over beers and pizza.” Tony made a _tsking_ noise and Loki laughed.

“And what about you? Do you have a significant other?” He didn’t give a specific gender, instead sipping at his milk.

Tony gave him a surprised look.

“It’s been a few years.” Tony paused, skewering a cherry with his fork. “Things changed and I’ve had a hard time trusting people since then.”

“What happened?” Loki asked, concern seeping into his voice. “Unless you don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to be intrusive.” He knew that Tony was a former field agent. He knew they weren’t all that open, especially when it came to the past.

“How about we just enjoy our pie and then watch a movie. I might tell you about it another time. Besides, it’s not only my story. It’s Bucky’s too.” Loki nodding in understanding, feeling his throat constrict a little bit, just because of the look on Tony’s face.

“He’s a good friend.”

“Yeah, he is.”

* * *

To Loki’s disappointment they didn’t move close together as the movie started, not that he was really expecting them to.

It was a funny little movie that Tony had picked out for them.

Halfway through the film Tony’s phone went off.

“Sorry,” he grumbled while getting up and heading to the kitchen with his cell phone in hand. “You were supposed to be finished this morning.” Loki could barely hear him say. “Natasha said—Yeah, I know, but Pep already left and should be on a flight to Chicago right now. I think Bruce is working… Maybe I should head back to work… Yeah, thanks for letting me know. I’ll call him now.” Loki frowned at the distress in Tony’s voice. “Brucie-darling—Oh, yeah, sorry. I forgot. Tell her I said hi. No, everything is alright. I just was wondering if that new mercury based gas you were working on was going, but I’ll leave you two alone. Yeah, bye.”

Tony didn’t immediately come back out and Loki felt his worry starting to escalate. There was the sound of shuffling and Loki was going to ask if everything was alright when Tony came back in with a misshapen ball in his hand.

Before Loki could open his mouth the movie started again.

From the corner of his eye Loki could see Tony fidgeting with the ball, squeezing it and thumbing it into different shapes. He no longer laughed at the jokes and the closer the movie came to its end the more he tensed up and gripped the ball.

“Do you want to watch another one?” Tony asked, his voice cracking.

“What’s wrong?” Loki wasn’t able to hold the question back any longer.

“Shit,” Tony whispered, closing his eyes tightly. “I really didn’t want anyone else to know. I have PTSD and I have a phobia about being alone for more than a few minutes. I’m fucking pathetic.”

“No, no you’re not.” Loki wanted to move closer, to comfort him, but didn’t know how he’d react to being touched. He really didn’t know how to handle these sorts of situations. “I don’t know exactly what to say, but you’re not pathetic, definitely not pathetic. You know I’ve actually been training extra hours at the agency because I want to be able to fight like you and Barnes do? I always look forward to the new gadgets you give me to try out and I love our lunches together. I also have the biggest crush on yo—” Loki slammed his jaw shut before slapping a hand over his mouth.

Tony’s eyes went wide and his anxiety quickly changed to surprise.

“Just ignore that last part. Let’s watch another movie—” Loki was cut off by Tony pulling him forward and a messy kiss on his lips.

“Yeah, I like you too. I didn’t think you’d be interested in an old lab-rat like me though. You’re in your prime and I’m—”

“Amazingly smart, witty, capable of taking down almost any other agent, roguishly good looking, and funny,” Loki finished for him. “Also, you like my pies. So that’s a big plus.”


	3. Misunderstandings

They had both fallen asleep on the couch at some point during the third movie. Loki woke up somehow wedged between Tony and the couch. It wasn’t the comfiest position, but Loki really didn’t want to move.

Despite being taller he was snugly pressed against Tony’s chest, his face nuzzling Tony’s neck. Now that he was this close he could see faint scars coming up from his chest and to his neck.

Loki’s cell phone alarm went off, reminding him he had to go to work soon. He could feel Tony tense up beside him.

“It’s just me,” Loki whispered. Tony slowly relaxed, moving a bit back from him and almost falling off the couch. “Want to carpool to work today?” Tony propped his head up and smiled at him.

“Only if you let me buy you breakfast first.”

* * *

Their quick breakfast was yummy.

Lunch was wonderful. Tony sat extra close to him and shared his blueberries. Bruce gave them a few looks, but didn’t comment.

Clint joined them and kept winking at Loki. He was going to kill him one of these days.

“So you two are a thing now?” Clint asked, needling at Loki’s side.

“You’re so annoying,” Loki mumbled, not knowing what he and Tony were. Tony gave Loki a mischievous grin.

“You know, Clint, Natasha and I are close friends. We were in the same academy year. She tells me _everything_ and I’ve heard that your _performance_ has been subpar. She’s actually thinking of finding a better agent for the job.” The color drained from Clint’s face immediately. He stood, stumbling over his chair before running off. “Too easy.” Tony shook his head.

“Those two are sleeping together?” Loki asked, actually surprised that Clint’s fantasies were actually coming to life.

“I have no idea, but Natasha does seem a bit more relaxed during our meetings.” Tony shrugged and both Bruce and Loki laughed.

* * *

Unfortunately that night Loki and Clint were sent off on a weeklong assignment. Tony understood, of course, but Loki didn’t want to jeopardize whatever was forming between them by not being there at the start.

Clint was a bit antsier too. He was checking his phone at all hours. Loki kept his on silent, but whenever he looked at it there was at least one new text from Tony, usually of him in his lab with something exploding in the background. It was completely against regulation to send any pictures that could compromise any new technology, but they always made Loki smile.

It wasn’t till the last day that things became a bit complicated.

One of the other agents botched things up and was taken hostage.

The rest of the team had to act quickly.

They used explosives to break into the facility. Loki and Clint came in through a side entrance where they were betting their agent was closest to. Clint had better aim than him, but Loki was better with close quarters fighting.

The pair kept most of the thugs pinned under gunfire, but a few were bold enough to try to get through as Loki and Clint progressed through the maze of hallways that they had already memorized.

On rare occasions one of the thugs slipped through when Clint was changing his clip. Loki was more than happy to knock them out or kill them by hand.

When they found their agent they also found a trap. They were the first ones to get there.

Bullet-proof vests could only help so much and their ammo wasn’t unlimited. Luckily the idiots had left plenty of spots for them to take cover behind.

Loki jumped out from his spot, using one of the guards as a human shield as he went to new cover. Loki snapped his neck just to be sure before disarming him and sliding the gun to Clint. He’d put better use to it anyway.

The guard did have an impressive knife that Loki decided would be much more efficient than his own.

Clint was excellent at providing cover fire as Loki hopped from one spot to another, taking down enemies as he went, both with their own guns and his new knife.

When they were halfway through the rest of their team arrived.

It was easy pickings after that and they all made it home, one arms dealer taken into custody.

* * *

Loki had never seen Tony fret before.

When Loki had sat down the following day for their usual lunch he had winced after accidently jostling one of his bruised ribs.

Tony was all over him after that and Loki couldn’t complain as his hands fluttered around, trying not to hurt him, but also make sure he was alright.

Loki calmed him down with a kiss.

* * *

Loki practically spent all his free time at Tony’s place, not wanting him to ever feel the anxiety of being alone.

He liked how their relationship was progressing. Everything was tender. Loki was always bruised and battered from work and Tony always found a way to hold him without hurting him. Tony was slow to open up, not that Loki minded. He didn’t touch Tony on the chest since that seemed to be a trigger for him, as was complete darkness.

They slept in Tony’s bed, but did nothing more than snuggle. Tony tended to hold onto him as they fell asleep. Loki thought he wouldn’t like that sort of thing, but it just made him feel comforted, like he wasn’t as much of a failure that his father insisted he was.

Tony usually woke up first, always jittery and sitting up in bed just looking out the window. Loki would just crawl over to him, rest his head against his thigh. He’d look up at Tony who would give him a fragile smile before carding his fingers through Loki’s hair as he fall back asleep.

* * *

Loki was working out at one of the agency’s gyms when he saw Agent Barnes.

“Out,” Barnes said in a near silent voice and all the other agents were quick to leave, some even forgetting their water bottles and bags. “You’re dating Tony.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes,” Loki responded none the less. Barnes gave him the once over before grabbing Loki by his sweaty shirt and shoving him against a wall. Loki didn’t fight back, wanting to see where this was going.

“You know how this happened?” Barnes glanced down at his metal arm. Loki gave him a questioning look. “Tony and I were in Afghanistan. There was a cave in. My arm was trapped. Insurgents were getting closer. I told Tony to just leave me, but he knew I wouldn’t be able to cut off my arm with a broken hand so he cut it off for me despite having two slugs in his right thigh and one in his chest. I passed out. When I woke up I was on a helicopter and Tony had been captured.” Barnes paused, narrowing his eyes at Loki. “If you hurt him I’ll make you wish that your arm was missing.”

Barnes dropped him before walking off.

* * *

“I’m so sorry,” Tony said when they met up in the garage.

“What for?” Loki asked, confusion wrinkling his brow.

“Bucky threatened you. Natasha told me.”

“It was nothing. He’s just looking out for you. I was expecting the shovel talk eventually.” Loki paused as he unlocked his car. “He told me about how he lost his arm.” Tony froze just outside of the car. “It’s alright. You don’t have to say anything.” Loki turned on the car and Tony finally got in.

“He blames himself for my capture. We were partners. He would have done the same for me.” Tony was staring outside the window and Loki reached over to hold his hand. Tony flinched at first, but didn’t pull away. “I was tortured for three months before I escaped. They either kept me in complete darkness alone with only water for days or sliced me up, asking about our agency and the US government. I fed them lies at first to make the pain stop, but they caught on pretty quickly. After that there were no more questions and everyday it was a new person, someone who felt wronged by the US or simple just wanted to inflict pain. There were so many that I can’t even remember their faces.” Tony chuckled darkly. “Those ones actually had to pay the terrorist in order to take out their anger on me. I was a commodity and that’s probably the only reason I’m alive.”

“You’re more than just a commodity to me, so much more.”

* * *

After that Barnes became Bucky to Loki. He was never openly hostile, but he was always watching with a scrutinizing eye.

Loki met Pepper and Rhodey officially and they liked him well enough.

After that things became smoother as the months passed.

The first time they had sex it was so awkward that they ended up laughing at themselves before trying again later that night. It was much better after that.

Loki got an invitation in the mail one day and pretty much just collapsed on Tony.

“What’s wrong?” Tony asked after giving him a kiss on the forehead.

“My brother’s wedding is coming up. Thankfully one of his college buddies is going to be his best man. He wants me to go to the bachelor party with him. I hate strip clubs. They do absolutely nothing for me and always smell strange. Also, Thor is an obnoxious drunk. I can probably lie my way out of it, but there’s no avoiding the actual wedding.” Loki leaned his head against Tony’s shoulder, letting out a sigh.

“That bad, huh?” Tony asked. Loki could hear the smile in his voice, he elbowed him, being sure to avoid the delicate spots.

“My father is a bigot who thinks my cover profession is only for women. When I told him I was gay he kicked me out. Luckily my mother snuck me a few hundreds that were stored in the house. Thor was off at college so he had no say. Thankfully the agency scooped me up. I still don’t know how they found me.” Who knows where he’d be now if they hadn’t. “He’s still pissed off that I didn’t come crawling back to him, repenting for my ‘sinful’ urges.”

“Sounds like A+ parenting to me,” Tony said sarcastically and Loki smiled. “Does that mean I can’t go to the wedding?” Loki looked over at him in surprise.

“I didn’t think you’d want to.”

“Loki, I was raised to deal with politicians and assholes. If the agency hadn’t contacted me when I was sixteen and in MIT I probably would have already met your dad since he’s in the corporate game.”

“You researched him?” Loki asked, not knowing how to feel about that.

“No, Bucky did. You know how he is.”

Loki snorted. Yes, he knew exactly how Bucky was, and he wouldn’t change him at all even if he could.

* * *

Loki had one more mission before they were to fly over to Florida for the wedding. It was a simple one man operation and he finished it off quickly, only getting hit on his wrist by a plank of wood before he smashed in the face of the thug for hire.

Loki was surprised, yet not surprised at all when he found out they were flying to Florida on Tony’s private jet. It was so easy to forget he was rich and part of one of the leading international corporations.

Loki slept against Tony for most of the flight, knowing how it was a constant reminder that he wasn’t alone. Tony would always wrap his arm around Loki, pulling him closer. In those moments insecurities Loki didn’t even know he had would melt away.

* * *

Loki had made sure to book them a hotel room rather than stay at his oversized childhood home. They skipped the rehearsal dinner and just had sex instead. The next morning he received an angry phone call from his mother, making sure he was coming to the wedding later that day. He reassured her while rolling his eyes at Tony. Tony stifled his laughter.

After getting cleaned up they were on their way to the wedding.

“Bruce said that he’s whipping my new lab assistant into shape, some kid named Peter Parker.” Loki tried not to gnaw on his lip and think of this new individual that would be spending so much time with Tony as competition.

“What happened to Janet?”

“You didn’t hear? She’s getting married to Pym. They both decided to go into the private sector and start a company together.” Tony shrugged while smiling.

“Good for them,” Loki mumbled. Tony took his hand and Loki relaxed a bit.

* * *

They arrived at the wedding a bit earlier than Loki would have liked.

Loki tried to steer them clear of all the assholes he grew up with, especially his father. Thankfully they made it to the hallway that led to where Thor was getting ready without running into anyone.

Loki knocked on the door.

“It’s me, you dullard,” Loki said callously.

“Loki!” Thor said boisterously, opening the door himself. Loki didn’t flinch when he was pulled into a bone crushing hug even though his torso was a bit bruised from Bucky’s fighting lessons. “You look skinnier,” Thor complained while holding him at a distance.

“You’re imagining things.” Loki brushed him off and Thor caught his hand.

“What happened to your wrist?” he asked, staring at the purple, green, and yellow mark.

“An accident. So are you ready to marry above your league?” Loki teased and Thor’s expression immediately morphed into a smile.

“She is the heavens and I am a lowly ant,” Thor said in an almost poetic tone.

“Save it for your vows,” Loki said dryly. “This is Tony, my boyfriend.” Loki saw some of Thor’s friends shift uncomfortably and he did his best not to roll his eyes.

“It’s nice to meet you, Thor. Loki has only said terrible things about you,” Tony joked while holding out his hand to shake Thor’s.

Thor gave him an intense look before shaking it, saying nothing in return.

Loki really did roll his eyes this time.

“We’re going to take our seats. Try not to sweat through your shirt.”

* * *

They were in the second row specifically so Loki wouldn’t have to sit by his father.

Odin didn’t even give them a glance as he sat directly in front of him.

As all the seats began filling up Loki’s mother came out from the bride’s wing of the church, clearly excited.

“It’s almost time,” she whispered to Loki before giving him a kiss on the cheek. She gave Tony a small nod and smile before sitting next to Odin.

Thor and his groomsmen took their positions.

Loki zoned out for the whole ceremony, standing and sitting when he was supposed to before going back to playing with Tony’s hand, feeling the bumps in his fingers where they’d been snapped.

* * *

Tony stuck to Loki’s side during the reception. Loki could tell how the large crowd of unknown people made him uneasy. They danced a few times. He wasn’t surprised that Tony was good at it. He was a former spy. It was kind of part of the job.

He couldn’t avoid his parents forever though. Eventually Frigga cornered them with a disgruntled Odin by her side.

“You haven’t introduced us yet,” Frigga crooned, her cheeks flushed and a glass of champagne in hand.

“This is my boyfriend Tony. Tony these is my mother and father, Frigga and Odin,” Loki said while eyes his father carefully. He could see the disgust in his blue eyes.

Frigga immediately captured Tony in a hug and Loki was relieved when he gave her a relaxed one in return.

Tony held out his hand to shake Odin’s but eventually dropped it away when Odin didn’t reciprocate.

Loki gave Odin a scathing look.

“How do you make your income, _Tony_?” Odin practically spit his name out.

“I work for Carbonell Industries.” Tony smiled while looping his arm around Loki’s waist.

“Middle management, I’d assume.”

“Honey,” Frigga scolded, but Odin acted like he didn’t hear her.

“Actually I own the company. My full name is Tony Stark. Ms. Potts is the current CEO because I prefer heading the R&D departments,” Tony said confidently and Odin sputtered.

“That’s impossible,” Odin finally said after he cleared his throat. He kept switching his gaze between Loki and Tony, looking for signs of deception.

“Not really. Loki, would you care for another dance?” Tony steered them to the dance floor before Odin could say another word.

* * *

They were back in Tony’s private jet before an hour had even passed since the reception ended.

Loki was mentally and emotionally exhausted.

“You handled everything perfectly,” he said in a tired tone.

“Thanks.” Tony kissed him. “Hey?”

“Hmm?” Loki opened his eyes, not even having noticed they’d slid shut.

“Do you want to move in with me?” Loki was immediately wide awake.

“What?” The word came out stuttered.

“Well, I was thinking we could find a new place. Somewhere closer to work and a bit smaller than my current place, but if you don’t want to—”

“I’d love to.”

Then they joined the mile high club.

* * *

Tony did most of the searching and actual visits with Bucky since Loki had been sent on a whole slew of new missions since apparently Clint did something to piss off the director, _again_.

When he got back two weeks later Tony had the apartments narrowed down to three.

After looking at them Loki chose the second. It had a very open floor plan so that they could almost always be in visual contact.

They bought all new furniture because most of Tony’s was stained while Loki’s was mostly in shitty condition.

On the same day they moved in there was a knock on the door.

Loki opened the door to reveal a couple just a few years older than him.

“Hey, we thought we’d introduce ourselves,” the short and skinny blonde said as Loki let them in. “We live across the hall. I’m Steve Rogers and this is my wife Peggy.”

“Steve made you lasagna,” Peggy said with a smile while handing the large casserole dish over to Loki as Tony walked over to them.

“I’m Loki Smith and this is my boyfriend Tony.” He watched their expressions carefully, but didn’t see any signs of disgust or prejudice. That was a relief. He got that enough from his father.

“It’s nice to meet you both,” Tony said with a smile, shaking both their hands while Loki went to take the lasagna to the kitchen. He glanced over at them and saw that Steve was giving him a weird look. Loki glanced down at himself, but saw nothing amiss. “Why don’t you sit down? Loki just made some lemonade for the work crew that dropped our stuff off earlier. It’s delicious.”

“That would be lovely,” Peggy said and Loki only just then noticed the slight tilt in her voice. She dragged Steve over to the couch.

“How did you two meet?” Tony asked as Loki brought over the pitcher as well as four glasses. He filled them up while assessing Peggy. She sounded British, but one could never be too certain. Bucky probably ran a background check on everyone in the building anyway.

“I was part of the Royal Air Force and met Steve during the Iraqi war. He was a photo journalist.” She gave Steve a loving look and he returned it in kind.

“Wait? You wouldn’t happen to be _the_ Peggy Carter?” She looked surprised at Tony’s question.

“Yes, how did you know?” Her eyes were wide and Steve was grinning proudly.

“Peggy isn’t that common of a name, even in England. I think there was a Times article about you and your service. From what I remember you’re pretty amazing.” Tony was all charm and Loki held back a laugh. He always enjoyed when Tony acted this way. He wondered if he was this charming even before the agency found him.

“Thank you. What do you two do?”

“I work for Carbonell Industries and Loki does architecture. That’s how we met.” Loki finished filling the glasses and sat next to Tony, handing him a glass. “Do you still do photo journalism, Steve?”

“I’m just a starving artist now, well I would be starving without Peggy.”

“You’re being humble.” She gave him a kiss and his whole face flared red. “He has an art exhibit coming up in two weeks. You all should come. Any support would be lovely.”

“That sounds great, doesn’t it Loki?”

“Yes, we’ve never been to an art gallery together.” Loki grinned at him.

“We’ll definitely be there.”

“Spectacular!” Peggy gave him all the information and Tony tapped it into his phone. Steve was staring at him again and it made Loki uncomfortable, he shifted closer to Tony who took his hand without looking up from his phone.

“I assume you’re out of the Royal Air Force now, Peggy,” Loki said, trying to keep the conversation going.

“I retired from them with a comfy pension. Now I work for the US government, very hush hush stuff.” She gave them a wink and Loki had to hold back his almost explosive laughter. Tony squeezed his hand and Loki straightened out his expression, knowing Tony was thinking the same thing.

The talked for a few more minutes. It was fairly smooth until Peggy stuttered midsentence as she glanced at Loki before quickly carrying on. Loki didn’t get it, but figured it had something to do with their homosexual relationship.

“Oh, and by the way the man that lives to your right is practically a crazy cat lady. What’s his name again, love?” Peggy asked Steve.

“Uh, Nick Fury, I think.”

* * *

Living together was wonderful. Loki could tell how much more relaxed Tony was now that Loki was practically a constant. They divided the chores easily. They had been smart enough to get an apartment with a large living room so that Tony could use it for his inventing while Loki lounged around.

Loki loved that he didn’t have to rush to his place all the time to get fresh clothes.

They carpooled to work when they knew Loki didn’t have an upcoming mission and Tony wasn’t going to stay too late.

Loki met Peter Parker, Tony’s new lab assistant, and instantly felt silly for being worried. He really was just a kid, fresh out of high school and still had that young mentality and energy that had him practically crawling up the walls.

* * *

“Dude,” Clint dragged out the word.

“Yes, Clint,” Loki said as he belayed him on the rockwall that was inside one of the gyms.

“She’s draining me dry.”

“I honestly do not care.” He let out some slack on the rope that was connecting them in case Clint fell. Loki heard his phone ring from his gym back. “Dumbass, don’t fall. I’m going to get my phone.” Loki slipped out of the harness.

“Really?” Clint shouted and Kate laughed while going over to belay him.

Loki fished through his bag. Thor’s name was on screen. He took in a deep breath before answering.

“How was the honeymoon, you stud?” he teased, still grinning at Clint who was flipping him off.

“Jamaica was beautiful and Jane has a tan now. You should see her with a tan. She is so glorious—”

“Anyway,” Loki said, cutting off his brother’s ramblings. “I moved in with Tony.” There was a long silence on the other end of the line. “What?”

“Do you really think that is a good idea, Loki?” Thor asked cautiously.

“Please don’t tell me that father has started influencing you—”

“No, no, of course not! You know I have gay friends.”

“Thor,” Loki sighed out his name, “just because you have gay friends—”

“Yes, I have heard your argument before, but that’s not what I’m talking about.” Thor paused again and Loki rolled his eyes before he began stretching. He might as well put his time to good use. “Loki, you know I love you.” Loki was a bit put off, but responded none the less.

“Yes, Thor, I love you too.” He kept the sarcasm out of his voice, sensing that whatever Thor said next was going to be serious.

“I tried to talk to you after the wedding, but you were already gone by the time things started winding down.” There was a frown clear in Thor’s voice. “During the reception Tony practically had you on a leash. You followed him everywhere, even to the bathroom—”

“He has isolophobia,” Loki said, but Thor was talking over him.

“And you had that large bruise on your wrist and I saw you flinch when uncle Volstagg patted you on the back. If he’s hurting you—”

“Oh my god, Thor! No!” Loki practically shouted into the phone, drawing the attention of everyone around him, including Kate and Clint.

“Loki, you don’t have to put up with—You have so much value, no matter what father or Tony has said.”

“Thor, no! Just no!” Loki didn’t know how to react and he just looked around in stunned surprise. “We’re nothing like that. We love each other!”

“Loki…”

Loki let out a long sigh, his eyes sliding shut.

“It’s not what you think and if you tell mom this absurd idea of yours I’ll skin you alive.” Loki pressed the end call button as hard as he could, wishing he still had a flip phone so he could slam it shut.

Clint and Kate gave him a concerned look. He just waved them off before deciding to take out his anger on the punching bag.

* * *

Tony tried to weasel out of him what was wrong, but Loki brushed off the whole subject saying it was just family drama, which it technically was.

He did tell Clint though when they were on a mission.

“Dude, that sucks. I hate your dad.”

“What does this have to do with _him_?” Loki asked, not taking his eyes off their target.

“I don’t know. I just feel like this is his fault somehow. I mean if he wasn’t such an asshole maybe you’d’ve gotten clearance to tell your immediate family about your job then Thor would know why you’re always so bruised.”

“I wouldn’t have gotten clearance either way. My father works for an international company. That would run the risk of him trying to manipulate me so he could gain profits. Did you miss that class or something?” Loki asked while grinning.

“You’re such an asshole.”

* * *

Loki was pissed off at himself. He had a shiner and makeup wasn’t doing anything to hide the huge bruise. What made it worse was that it was the night of Steve’s art gallery premier. They’d already agreed to go.

“You look great,” Tony said sarcastically. Loki glared at him. “Did I ever show you the photo of me and Bucky after our first mission? We looked like complete shit. Bucky actually had to get two false teeth because he took a crowbar to the face.”

“Yes, Tony. You’ve told me the story a thousand times.” Loki rolled his eyes at him. “Are you sure you’re only ten years older than me? You act like such an old man sometimes with your: ‘Back in my day spies had to walk 30 miles in knee high snow and we didn’t even have real guns, only sling shots’. It’s _so_ annoying,” Loki said over exaggeratedly.

Tony pulled him into a hug and gave him a big kiss.

“Sorry I single handedly paved the way for you new age spies with your shiny gizmos and gadgets.” Loki punched him on his shoulder before they both laughed.

* * *

Loki was sticking close to Tony as they entered the lavish building, knowing Tony was uncomfortable in crowds of strangers. He had his arm looped with Tony’s.

He pulled Tony immediately to the drawings, trying to avoid anyone seeing them.

Tony was so enraptured by the art that he didn’t notice the looks they were getting.

Loki just wanted to get them out of there, but they had yet to see Steve and Peggy. They had to at least make an appearance.

He didn’t want to add any more stress to Tony’s life, let alone let him hear their unfounded accusations.

There was a buzzing in his pocket and Loki discreetly checked who was calling. He held back a cringe when he saw it was his mother. He already knew what the call was about and he knew that if he ignored it things would only get worse.

“Will you be alright on your own for a moment? My mom is calling.” He didn’t want Tony to overhear his conversation. Tony gave him a fragile smile.

“I’ll be fine.” He stared intently at the painting in front of him.

“Mom,” Loki said while walking to one of the corners of the room.

“I talked to Thor. Has Tony been hurting you? I swear I will fly up there myself and show him what real pain is!” Frigga’s voice was all business.

“I’m going to kill Thor! I told him nothing happened! It was a construction accident.”

“Well Thor said you had a bruise on your wrist like Tony had grabbed you there and yanked you or something. I won’t have my baby being hurt by some scumbag—”

“Mother,” his voice turned more serious, “he’s never hurt me. He is the gentlest and most loving man I’ve ever known. He makes me happy and I’ve never been happier in my life than when I’m with him.”

“You can’t stay with someone if they’re abusing you.”

“He’s not. Also, you’re going about this all wrong. Did you even research how you’re supposed to talk to abuse victims? It’s clear that you came into this whole thing guns a blazing and haven’t thought it through at all. I love you and I really don’t want you thinking less of Tony just because of Thor’s idiocy. I’m currently enjoying an evening out with Tony at an art gallery. I’ll call you tomorrow once you’ve calmed down.”

Loki put an end to the call. He glanced over at Tony and could see that he was shifting uneasily, glancing Loki’s way every so often. Loki quickly made his way to his side, kissing his cheek. Tony relaxed almost immediately.

The evening continued on and for a former spy it seemed like Tony was completely oblivious to the looks they were receiving. He did notice how tense Loki was though.

“Is there something wrong?” Tony whispered to him, a glass of scotch in hand. “Not enjoying the art?” He joked and Loki gave him a weak smile.

“We’ll talk about it when we get home,” Loki reassured him. Tony gave him a penetrating look, but then just shrugged.

“You made it!” Peggy said loudly, clad in a beautiful red dress as she walked over. Steve was by her side, looking a bit shy. Peggy frowned at them when she saw the large bruise that covered Loki’s left eyes. Her hand tightened around Steve’s. “Loki, do you have a moment to talk?” Without thought Loki glanced at Tony, silently asking him if he’d be alright. Tony nodded and it only just occurred to Loki how that would look to outsiders.

“For you, Peggy, I have all the time in the world.” He tried to use his spy charm on her. As they were walking away he could hear Tony complimenting Steve on his artwork.

“I know we haven’t known each other for all that long,” Peggy began once they were in a corner of the gallery, “and I really don’t know anything about your relationship with Tony, but I want you to know that I’m here to help whenever you need it and if you ever want to talk. I also have another apartment on the other side of town that’s owned by the group I work for. If you ever need a place to stay please tell me or Steve.” She touched his upper arm carefully, giving him a comforting squeeze.

Loki took in a deep breath, trying to hold back tears of frustration.

“Thank you for your concern, Peggy. I know how things look from the outside, but I’m not in an abusive relationship. It’s not my place to say, but Tony has isolophobia, the fear of being alone, that’s why I always look to him before I leave him with strangers or even acquaintances. My job is more dangerous than one would suspect. I really do understand your concerns and appreciate them, but they are unfounded.” He gave her his best smile before heading back over to Steve and Tony.

“Your exhibit has been lovely, Steve, but I’m getting a bit tired. I think Tony and I will head back to our apartment now. Thank you for the invitation.” Before Steve could react Loki was already ushering Tony out.

“You’re mad,” Tony stated with a concerned look on his face when they reached the parking lot. Loki pulled him into a hug and Tony wrapped his arms around Loki’s torso. “You want to talk about it?”

“They’re all idiots,” Loki said, finally letting his frustrated tears fall. Tony gripped him tighter.

“Talk to me,” Tony pleaded when Loki just continued crying. Loki stepped back and Tony let him go.

“My mother, Thor, Steve, and Peggy all think you’re abusing me!” Loki shouted, throwing his arms up in exasperation as he started pacing. “Those idiots think you’re some monster, that you’re scum that would hurt me! I hate that they think of you that way! That they can’t see how perfect you are! They’re just so stupid and I want to tell them the truth, but I can’t!” Loki realized he was panting as he looked back at Tony. “Why are you grinning?!”

“Because their opinions don’t matter,” Tony said simply, walking over to Loki and taking his hand. “I’ve dealt with torture. I can handle a few glares.” He kissed Loki on his hand.

“But…” Loki felt himself deflating.

“When it comes to our relationship the only person’s opinion that matters to me is yours.” Loki stared at him in stunned amazement.

“I love you so much,” Loki said while engulfing Tony in a hug. Tony kissed him on his cheek.

“I love you too, no matter what anyone else thinks.”


End file.
